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Author
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Topic: Flying!!
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Ashy
Member Posts: 157
From: Preston, England
Registered: Mar 2004
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posted 06-10-2004 05:55 PM
   
Just got back from my first taste of glider flying. I know there are a few Cs members who are pilots and I can now see the attraction. I know it seems abit odd my posting this but I thought I'ld let everyone know anyway. I think I'll be doing this flying about lark again!!Si |
BLACKARROW
unregistered
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posted 06-10-2004 06:23 PM
No apology necessary....plenty of links between gliding and spaceflight. Last November I had the pleasure of discussing gliding with a certain Mr Neil Armstrong, who spent a lot of time over the years soaring silently and engine-less over the countryside. In 1978, while gliding over Scotland, I carried out the same manoeuvres they fly with the "vomit comet" to simulate weightlessness. Trainee astronauts on the "vomit comet" get about half a minute of zero-gee. In a glider I got several seconds, but the sensation of floating off my seat (restrained by a safety harness!) and the sight of a pair of sunglasses floating in front of my face are still fresh in my mind. If you've never flown in a glider, put it at the top of a list of things to do this summer! |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 06-11-2004 01:00 AM
Wait untill You'll fly solo ...
You'll never forget that experience !!! |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 06-11-2004 12:23 PM
Si,which airfield did you fly from? Glad you enjoyed your flight - we need more new blood in the sport. There are only 9000 glider pilots in the UK, but that's high as a percentage of population.
I'll be off on Saturday to fly my Discus from Lasham http://www.lasham.org.uk
which amazingly is the largest gliding club in the world. Keep spreading the word. Paul Bramley
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Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 06-11-2004 12:36 PM
I got the flying bug when I took a hot-air balloon ride, and then a blimp ride. I decided to volunteer for the county-affiliated search and rescue team; I'm "only" an observer (anybody have a JAFO cap?), but I hope to learn how to fly a plane through it. Congrats! |
Dirk
Member Posts: 933
From: Belgium
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 06-11-2004 05:34 PM
Flying a glider is the purest flying experiance. It goes between you, your plane and nature, and no mechanical tools between.
And for a lot of test pilots and astronauts
soaring always staid their ultimimate form of flying.
By the way, testpilot Michael Swann, who tested F-111, F-15, PA-30 and F-8C died in 1981 in a glider accident, what shows that glider pilots must use all their capabilities.Dirk |
Ashy
Member Posts: 157
From: Preston, England
Registered: Mar 2004
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posted 06-11-2004 05:54 PM
Paul,
I flew from the Bowland Forest club outside Preston, Lancashire. It was a terrific taster with some cracking views looking over not only my part of Lancashire but also Yorshire and Cumbria. Got some good photo's too!Si |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 06-12-2004 12:58 AM
Someone from my search and rescue squadron must be a member of cS.Friday (with my vacation) was my second time up in the air - and the person whose plane it was (we're all volunteers, with all volunteered equipment) said for me to sit in the left seat! So... I have 1.8 hours in my logbook, flying his Cessna 150J. He said I was "very good" for my first time flying a small plane. I was nervous as all anything, trying to keep the wings level and not to bank the plane to either side or pitch it up and down. Gosh darnit, it's certainly a lot different than driving a car! |
tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 06-13-2004 03:40 AM
Just be careful.Flying can be addictive! I started flying 13 years ago, and haven't stopped. I have about 1865 hours now, and over 1100 as an instructor. If you have any flying questions, feel free to ask for free advice! Tom
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xdef66
Member Posts: 43
From: Detroit MI. USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 06-13-2004 09:55 AM
"High Flight"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God. John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Seemed like a good time to use my favorite poem....... |
paul prendergast
Member Posts: 429
From: crawley west sussex UK
Registered: Apr 2004
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posted 06-13-2004 11:38 AM
The only way that i will be flying high is if England win |
Ashy
Member Posts: 157
From: Preston, England
Registered: Mar 2004
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posted 06-13-2004 03:40 PM
I've tentatively mentioned to my wife about doing this more often and learning to fly, (without mentioning the exact cost involved). At present, having done lots of jobs in the garden and around the house over the wekend, I have a 'Go'.
Although I've flown as a pasenger on commercial airlines before, this was my first taste of 'flying' and actually having control in whether you go up, down left or right. Beginning to move in 3 dimensions, if you know what I mean, is terrific. Thanks to all for letting me rabbit on like a big kid. Cheers.Si |
Frederic Janik
Member Posts: 320
From: Helsinki, Finland
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 06-13-2004 04:43 PM
quote:
Originally posted by paul prendergast:
The only way that i will be flying high is if England win
Well Paul looks like you'll remain earth-bound for some time!!  What a game! Cheers Frederic |
Ashy
Member Posts: 157
From: Preston, England
Registered: Mar 2004
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posted 06-13-2004 06:07 PM
From the jaws of victory we snatch defeat!!
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